Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoDaniel Jayo | Associated PressSecurity forces in Buenos Aires hold back fans who are cheering the arrival of Argentina’s soccer team by bus from Brazil, a day after it lost to Germany in the World Cup championship match.

After being hailed as heroes in their native Costa Rica, Crew defenders Giancarlo Gonzalez and
Waylon Francis returned to the daily grind yesterday.

Less than two weeks after leading Costa Rica to the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time,
their task now is to try and spark a Crew team with one victory in its past 15 games that is coming
off its worst loss of the season.

Speaking through a Crew interpreter, Gonzalez and Francis said they are happy to be back.

“We believed in teamwork,” Gonzalez said. “We believed in working hard and having big dreams and
trying to fight for those dreams. Going into the World Cup, nobody thought we were going to do what
we did. It was very important for all of us as a group to dream and work toward that dream. That’s
what we can bring here to the Crew, is working hard together as a group and making goals to
meet."

Although both players were on the roster, Gonzalez played every minute of Costa Rica’s games
while Francis, one of the last players to make the cut, did not see any action. Both players joined
the Crew in New York at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday and sat out that day’s 4-1 loss to the Red Bulls,
but coach Gregg Berhalter said they should be available on Wednesday against Sporting Kansas
City.

Francis said there were only four days in which he did not practice while he was gone.

“I feel fit,” he said. “We were working extremely hard in Brazil. If I get called up to play
Wednesday, then I’ll be ready.”

Gonzalez, 26, emerged as a breakout star for his play in the World Cup, and his name has been
consistently mentioned as one that could end up with a high-profile European team soon. Berhalter
has said the Crew only views legitimate offers for Gonzalez’s services as those that officially
come from another team, and yesterday he said the Crew has yet to receive any contact that fits
those criteria.

Yesterday, London’s
The Mirror speculated that Gonzalez would fit nicely with Sunderland, stating that he
could be worth a transfer fee of between $6.8 million and $8.5 million.

Tor-Kristian Karlsen, a soccer writer for the British newspaper
The Guardian, posted on Twitter that the asking price for Gonzalez is $3 million-plus.

“Of course, it’s nice to hear things, but right now I’m part of the Crew and this club, and
right now we have a game on Wednesday, and that’s what I’m concentrated on,” Gonzalez said.

As for whether his performance and rumors of interest for him have changed his personal
expectations, Gonzalez said, “The pressure has always been to perform better and try harder. I
think that’s the kind of pressure we feel, to continue to excel on the field and off the
field."

Francis, 23, said his experience in Brazil was not soured by the fact that he did not play.

“Not bittersweet at all,” he said. “I made the roster, and I was one of the ones to make it
late, so I understood that, so I knew that I had to work my butt off. … At my young age, I have a
lot to look forward to and keep working for so hopefully that future continues.”